Video: Where there’s smoke ... there’s a lesson

Thursday

When Valerie White’s daughter Abby came home from school after visiting a new fire safety trailer, she couldn’t stop talking about it.

When Valerie White’s daughter Abby came home from school after visiting a new fire safety trailer, she couldn’t stop talking about it.

The trailer, which simulates a two-story home and is designed to teach youngsters about safely getting out of a building in the event of a fire, has been visiting schools in the East Irondequoit district this month. The trailer made a stop at Abby’s Ivan Green School last Thursday and Friday.

The $40,000 trailer was purchased by Irondequoit’s St. Paul Boulevard Fire Department about a year ago with its capital reserve funds.

It was officially put into use this spring, said firefighter Kevin Magin, one of the instructors.

Classes of 15 to 20 students arrive at the trailer first for a short lesson, then go inside, where it is set up like a house with a fireplace, kitchen, a bedroom and even heating and air conditioning. Inside, they receive more instruction, then get to practice what they’ve learned while theatrical “smoke” is pumped into the trailer.

On the first floor, children are taught to “get low and go” by crawling to an exit.

On the second floor — rooms are built for children, so adults must crouch — students are instructed to crawl out a window, onto a porch, and climb down a safety ladder built into the trailer.

“It was fun,” said second-grader McKenna Stickney, 8, after her visit inside the trailer Friday afternoon. “I liked it because it shows you how to get out from two floors.”

Classmate Brendan O’Kane also “loved” the experience, but also saw the value in having an escape route.

“The smoke seemed so real,” Brendan said. “Now I know how it feels to actually get to do it.”

Valerie White said the trailer is realistic without being frightening.

“I think learning in a makeshift house makes them feel safer,” she added.

The aim, Magin said, is to teach children safety skills that will staywith them all of their lives.

“When you go through a trailer like this, it’s something you don’t forget,” he said.

Skills that are stressed include first, having working smoke detectors, then having an exit plan in the event of a fire. Children are also taught to learn two ways to get out of their burning home and to have a predetermined meeting place to gather with other family members.

Magin praised the support of the district in bringing the trailer and program to East Irondequoit schools.

The department hopes to do the same in West Irondequoit schools in the fall.

St. Paul has also been supported with the program this spring by members of the Ridge-Culver and Point Pleasant fire departments. The costs of labor and materials for the East Irondequoit school visits was covered by the Irondequoit Fire Council.

The program has just been warmly received, Magin said. “I think it’s the strongest program we’ve ever had ... It beats anything we do.”